Refrigerator Rolls

Here is the recipe for the refrigerator rolls pictured in my previous post.  It comes from my much used and loved 39 year old Betty Crocker's Cookbook.  

These are easy to make and very tasty.  What I really like about them is you mix the dough up a day (up to 5 days) ahead of time.  Then when you are ready to bake them, you just form them into little "balls" and let them rise in a warm place for an hour or two before baking.  So here goes.

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

1 cup unseasoned lukewarm mashed potatoes (a cup of instant potatoes works great)

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
6 to 7 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl.  Stir in potatoes, sugar, shortening, eggs, salt and  cups of the flour.  Beat until smooth.  Mix in enough remaining flour to m ake dough easy to handle.  Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up.  Cover bowl tightly; refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 5 days.

Punch dough down and form into whatever type rolls you want.  I usually shape them into 1 inch balls and place side by side on a lightly greased cookie sheet, then brush with softened butter. 

 If you can see this photo clear enough, you can see some other suggested ways of forming the dough.  The baking times vary from between 15 and 20 minutes.

The recipe says to let them rise for an hour.  My experience has been that they need more like 2 to 3 hours to rise in a warm spot.  Heat oven to 400 degrees and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. 

  

This recipe makes a very large batch of rolls, so another option is to bake them at 275 degrees for 20 minutes (do not allow to brown).  Remove from pans and cool to room temperature.  Then wrap in aluminum foil and freeze them for later (no more than 2 months).  You now have Brown and Serve Rolls.  At serving time, heat oven to 400 degrees and bake until brown (8 to 10 minutes). 

ENJOY!